Her father, Pyotr Soymonov (1737-1800), was a senator and a full Privy Councillor, and her mother Yekaterina (1756-1790) was a daughter of General Yekaterina"s childhood passed among the strife between father and grandmother from her mother side, who wanted to take her granddaughter to his upbringing.
Ancestors of Yekaterina Gagarina played a significant role in Russian history. The matter went to Catherine the Great, but the Empress did not wish to interfere in the domestic affairs of Pyotr Soymonov. Yekaterina was brought up in the spirit of his time under the guidance of a French madam Rebyufil.
Her youth passed in Saint St. Petersburg in the house of General Svechin.
Being a wealthy bride, Yekaterina Soymonova in 1809 married Prince Grigory Ivanovich Gagarin (1782-1837). The first years of marriage have been very happy.
Yekaterina led a secular lifestyle while her husband"s career developed successfully. Already in 1811 he became Secretary of State of the State Council.
The family was growing, and in 1810 and 1811 two sons were born.
Her marriage broke up in 1813. The reason for this was the love affair of Grigory Gagarin with a famous beauty Maria Naryshkina. Since then, almost constantly, with few interruptions they lived abroad.
In 1822, Prince Gagarin returned to the diplomatic service, holding the post of ambassador in Rome, and in the years 1833-1837 in Munich.
Her house was visited by Orest Kiprensky, Karl Bryullov, Vasily Zhukovsky, A. Turgenev, Fyodor Tyutchev. According to contemporaries, Yekaterina Gagarina had high qualities of mind and heart.
Zhukovsky, described it in a letter to Doctorate.P. Sverbeyev as: "..a very wonderful and lovely woman." In 1837, Gagarina became a widow. After her sister"s death in 1857, Yekaterina returned to Russia.
She died on February 27, 1875 and was buried in Moscow"s Vvedensky Cemetery.
Ivan Boltin, a famous historian, a member of the Russian Academy.
